Civil War Comic Review – “Civil War: The Return”

Better a week late than never. I plan to review the three issue “Punisher: War Journal” crossover before leaving town again on Sunday.

General Information

Title: Civil War: The Return

Author: Paul Jenkins

Illustrator(s): Tom Raney (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Gina Going (colours

on the lead story) and Sotocolor’s A. Crossley (colours on the Sentry

story).

Original Publication Date: This issue cover dates March 2007.

Cover Price: $2.99 US, $3.75 Can

Past comic reviews can be found here.

Premise

In the first story, a character long missing from the Marvel universe

stumbles back into it. In the second story, we see the Sentry’s decision to

register, which apparantly had nothing to do with his encounter with Iron Man

in New Avengers.

High Point

The Sentry defeats the bad guy in a way that only he can.

Low Point

That’s how the long missing character comes back? Given how he

left when last seen, I was really expecting more. If anything begs for a

double sized issue or more, it’s this, but instead we get half an issue.

The Scores

The originality is hard to judge

when there’s so little meat here. The first story does look like it’s going

somewhere interesting, but the second is really more of the same when compared

to the other Civil War crossovers. I give the complete package 3 out of

6.

The artwork is nice and clean, with no question

of what’s being depicted and some well conveyed emotions. (In some cases,

it’s still not clear about what’s happening, but that’s not the fault of the

art.) I give it 5 out of 6.

The story serves as proof that not all

comics today are extremely decompressed. This one really should have been

longer. There are just too many missing details to make this the main story.

Had this been a back-up to promote the new ongoing offered free in another

title, then it would have been different. Instead, the story that generated

all the buzz and speculation wasn’t satisfactory. The second story told its

story well, but the story had already been told in a completely different way.

I give it 3 out of 6.

The characterization of the Sentry

was nicely done with his internal dialogue. The characterization in the first

story sets up some nice ideas, but doesn’t take the time to follow through

with them. I give it 3 out of 6.

As you’ve probably guessed by now, the

emotional response was weak. With such a dissatisfying introduction,

I’m probably less likely to pick up the new ongoing than I was before I read

this, and that’s definitely not a good thing. I give it 2 out of 6.

The flow is there in the second story. The first

seems to be missing a page, only that page would belong in the middle of an

existing page, so I know that can’t be the case. I give it 4 out of 6.

Overall, as with many of the late

additions to the Civil War line, this feels quite lacking. I give it 3 out of

6.

In total, Civil War: The Return receives

23 out of 42.

Civil War Review Checklist